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The Courtesy Contract: Building Community ‘Til the Bitter End
As the school year comes to an end, I wanted to share one of my favorite activities: something I call, The Courtesy Contract. In my book for EyeOnEducation Publishing, due out in early 2011, called Tips for Tween teachers by
And My Job Quality is Based on These Tests?! (Updated)
So clearly we’ve all been thinking a lot about the necessity of test scores in making high stakes decisions. I mean, test scores seem to be used in everything these days: teacher evaluations, a student’s college or career readiness, merit
Act II: Hello, teachers? This is Arne Duncan.
In my last post, I wrote the following: There is definitely a common theme among them all: disappointment. But there’s another common theme as well: hope. We hope this is the start of something. We hope that the door remains
Arne Duncan call: The Final Curtain or Just Act 1 ?
Stay positive, I keep reminding myself. For if I don’t, my anger can make me unproductive to my cause. Stay positive, I keep reminding myself. For if I don’t, I stray from my general belief that politicians enter into their
How “Lost” is like Education
So here I am watching “Lost: The Final Journey,” and I heard the following exchange between the producers and cast that (as does much these days) got me thinking about education: Carlton Cruse (Producer): The first really profound moment on
More Details on My Topic for Monday’s Arne Duncan Call: Teachers at the Policy Table
So, just to continue yesterday’s post on preparing for Monday’s conference call with Arne Duncan, I wanted to cover a little of what we planned to discuss with the Secretary. Our topics, as I said before, were selected from a
Conference Call with Arne Duncan and the DOE: Teachers at the Policy Table
I’m exhausted. It’s why I’ve been a little quiet as of late on my tweenteacher scene. But I assure you, it isn’t because I’ve been up late watching TV. (Although is anyone else watching Lost? I mean, could it be
New Blogger on my Reader: Sarah Puglisi
I’ve discovered a new blogger whose lastest post, 100 Questions for Arne Duncan, is exactly what we should all be doing. Rather than always be on the defensive as a profession, we should be requiring our employees, that is, our
Anthony Cody, The Power of Facebook, and Letters to Obama
Well, I am in absolute awe of fellow Teacher Leader Network member and blogger, Anthony Cody. What began as a personal open letter to Obama on Facebook, has blossomed into a full-on social networking movement. Based on sheer eloquence, persistence,
Tweenteacher Article is lead item in the Accomplished Teacher SmartBrief
So my recent article for Teacher Magazine, “Does Last Hired, First Fired Make Sense” is the lead item in today’s Accomplished Teacher Smartbrief. You can read the article here. In it, I explore the history of the classic seniority list,
Norms for Skype and Video Conferencing in the Classroom
So recently my colleague, Kenna McRae, and I began using Skype between our two classrooms. Whenever I have a hair-brained idea, I know I can count on McRae to jump in and experiment with me. And I think the level
Metlife Survey Analysis and The New Evolution in Education: Hybrid Teachers
Lately I’ve been intrigued by recent studies on this topic of “hybrid teaching.” So when the most recent portion of The Metlife Survey of the American Teacher was released, I was eager to read its findings about “hybrid approaches to
My students discussing Twilight
OK, so I was recently involved in an online debate about the merits of using Twilight in the classroom. Actually, it turned out to be not much of a debate, because despite our differences of opinion about the quality of
Response to Washington Post: “Obama Revise NCLB Law”
This past weekend, as many of you know, President Obama’s new, revised-NCLB plan was released in both the New York Times and the Washington Post. My parents called after finishing up their Sunday morning ritual of newspaper-n-coffee to downshift about
Mr. Duncan: Save the National Writing Project
Dear Arne Duncan, The rumor on the winds that whispers through the halls is that funding for the National Writing Project will soon be threatened. I understand that the Obama administration is moving to consolidate expenses by merging a number
“Internet Literacy: The Genre” : CUE 2010
Thank you as well to those of you (wow! there were a lot of you!) who attended my “Internet Literacy: The Genre” session at CUE. As promised, here is the keynote itself to peruse at your leisure. As with everything
“Podcasting with 70 Middle Schoolers”: CUE 2010
Thank you to everyone who attended my session today at CUE on “Podcasting with 70 Middle Schoolers.” As promised, here is the keynote itself to peruse at your leisure. As with everything on my site, this work is licensed under
Part 3 of 3: The Future of Teacher Prep Programs
Well, what began as mere musings, seems to have become a fully fleshed fantasy for what a teacher prep program of the future may look like. It all began in Part 1 of this series of posts. It continued in
Part 2 of 3: The Future of Teacher Prep Programs
In yesterday’s post, Part I of 3: The Future of Teacher Prep Programs, I fantasized about what a credential program might look like years down the line. Here is Part II of my post that will address the following points:
Part I of 3: The Future of Teacher Prep Programs
My credential program was more of a necessary hoop than a valuable preparation program. My Ed Psych professor read his screenplay to us all semester long. My Methods of Math professor hadn’t been in a classroom for 30 years, and
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